Shadow Walker
by Muse-Of-Darkness-And-Light
Summary: "Sorry," The officer said. "I got no idea what's going on here. I get a call from the FBI. They tell me I need to drop everything and pick up some schmuck in a coffee shop." "Sorry, Deputy Curious." The teenager said, "I've been tortured by the best of them. I never gave up anything. So don't think your little good cop/good cop routine is gonna get you jack. 'Cause it isn't."
1. Chapter 1

_A town in Utah. _

"The Feds will be here in about an hour unless they get stuck on the L.I.E., and in which case we'll bring you dinner or something." The police officer said to the teenage girl as they walked into holding. She remained silent as they continued to walk. "Hey, so what's the deal? You aren't like a terrorist or anything."

"I'm not a terrorist," The teenager muttered, annoyed.

"Sorry," The officer said. "I got no idea what's going on here. I get a call from the FBI. They tell me I need to drop everything and pick up some schmuck in a coffee shop. They don't tell me your name, or what you're wanted for. You got a wallet with four different I.D.'s that are not real and your fingerprints don't match any file anywhere."

The teenager's left eye twitched but said nothing as they turned into a room of cubicles.

"Just call me curious-" The Police officer continued.

"Sorry, Deputy Curious." The teenager said, "I've been tortured by the best of them. I never gave up anything. So don't think your little good cop/good cop routine is gonna get you jack. 'Cause it isn't."

* * *

"Okay, little lady, your ride's here." Deputy Curious said, placing her satchel down next to her. He turned to the man in front of him, "Special agent Seymour Simmons, meet Jane Doe."

"Hello Jane, nice to see you again." Seymour said.

"So you're all they sent?" Deputy Curious asked, "The guy on the phone made Jane Doe sound pretty dangerous."

"The guy on the phone is deeply stupid." Seymour rolled his eyes. "Jane's not a threat to anyone... Unless of course you let him near your computer or your cell phone, programmable coffee maker, anything with a computer chip, really."

"She's that good?" Deputy Curious asked.

"She once broke out of Sector Seven using a Blu-Ray player." Seymour muttered.

"_Deputy Mannion, please see the desk sergeant your visitor's waiting." _A woman over the radio said.

"Excuse me a minute." Deputy Mannion said, walking out the room.

"Yeah, take your time." Seymour said. Once the Deputy had left Jane Doe asked, quietly, "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass so I can kick it later." Seymour said, unlocking Jane's handcuffs.

"What about Barricade?" Jane asked.

"You're more important than Barricade." Seymour lead her out the room. "Now hurry up and get your stuff. I have a feeling that visitor is here for you."

"FBI? Decepticons?"

"Probably both." Seymour said.

* * *

"I don't get it." Deputy Mannion insisted as he lead a group of agents up to the holding cell. "Her credentials looked fine, just like yours."

"Sir, it seems someone beat us here." The man said into his Bluetooth.

"_Who?" _A gravelly voice asked.

"Seymour Simmons." The man said, "How shall we proceed, Lord Megatron?"

"_Engage, do not worry about the mess." _

* * *

"I'm sorry." The teenage girl admitted as they snuck around the cubicles, "First you get shot. And now you have to wear that awful suit."

"The bullet I can handle." Seymour said, "The dress pants we're going to have to talk about later."

They saw Deputy Mannion leading a small group of agents right to their exit.

"Hey! Stop!"

The two bolted back down another hall.

"Hey guys I'm going to call for backup-" Deputy Mannion's neck was snapped as the three undercover Decepticons ran after them.

"Decepticons." Jane said as the two ran, "Definitely Decepticons."

They ran into another large room when the bullets streaked towards the two. They ducked and practically crawled to get out the way. Jane threw open the fire escape and saw a Decepticon in the room, and the other coming up the stairs. She jumped across the stairwell and tackled him as Seymour shot at the holophormed Decepticon. He ran out of ammo and another police officer came in with his gun raised.

"Drop the weapon!"

Seymour dropped it just as the Decepticon shot the police officer down, slamming Seymour into the desk. Jane was struggling as she broke the holophorms' arm, slamming his skull into the stairs. She bolted back up to see Seymour choking.

The grip on Seymour's throat loosened and then vanished as the Decepticon was struck dumb by a lead pole Jane was holding.

"You okay?" Jane asked.

"Yeah." Seymour said, rubbing his neck.

* * *

Jane Doe and Seymour Simmons had just gotten into the car when a Buffalo H Mine-Protected vehicle idling at the end of the parking lot.

"There he is." Jane Doe whispered. She shifted into reverse, slammed down the accelerator, and cranked the wheel, then braked, shifted to first, and again punched the accelerator. The roadster leaped out of the lot and roared onto Highway 9, heading east. The Buffalo followed.

For thirty miles we skirted the rim of Zion Canyon, finally reaching highway 89. She turned left, hardly slowing. The car hugged the concrete and made only the slightest screech, but the shoe box slammed against the side of the car. The lid popped up, but settled back into place.

She flicked a look at Seymour. His hands gripped the edge of his seat, knuckles white.

"Look out!"

She veered to avoid what at first she thought was a Tasmanian Devil, then felt foolish as it was only tumbleweed.

Seymour shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, thought it was an animal."

A small button on the console next to the emergency brake caught my eye. She was a sucker for buttons, especially when she didn't know what they're for. What the heck. She stabbed the button. The top started moving.

In twenty-five seconds the heavens opened up. Hot dry air whipped their hair. The smell of sage filled their nostrils. The roar of speed drowned any chance of conversation. And the thrill of the chase sent chills of excitement through her tingling body. Unbelievable. High dessert canyons and a sleek sports car. Can life get any better?

Oh, wait. Decepticon on her ass. How could she forget?

She turned onto highway 12, heading toward Bryce Canyon National Park, when Bonecrusher lost his patience and transformed into a huge, terrifying, Decepticon. His feet were wheels, "skating" as opposed to running. His weapons are a claw-like scoop at the end of a large telescopic arm, and guns in his arms. This claw is used in ordnance disposal on Buffalo armored vehicles.

"Holy shit!" Seymour exclaimed, "Drive Bianca! Drive!"


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2:_

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.

* * *

_Twenty-six hours before arrest. Black-market bank. _

"Drop it!" She shouted, pointing the gun at the man who was just about to reload. He froze, not moving as she continued to point it at him, she turned to Seymour who was getting up from his spot behind the now destroyed couch.

"Shoot him..."

The voice was fuzzed in her head. She continued to point the gun at the man who was slowly trying to reload.

"Shoot him!"

Her finger inched on the trigger.

She couldn't do it. She looked at Seymour like a deer in the headlights.

As the man reloaded Seymour grabbed a ornamental knife from the table and threw it at his head, as it hit the man sprayed bullets everywhere, one hit Seymour's shoulder and he dropped.

"Simmons!" She shouted, dropping the Beretta and running to him. "He's hit!" She shouted into her comm, staring hopelessly at the slowly fading Seymour Simmons.

* * *

_Three hours before arrest. A town in Utah. _

"-He said he was sorry, but it was like he was apologizing for breaking my coffee mug or something." She said. "You know, you lose my entire life savings, show a little bit of freaking remorse!"

"Here you go." A waitress said, setting down a cappuccino.

"Thank you." She said automatically, then continued, "It ain't over though. No, no, no, no, no. This is just the beginning. I've made millions of dollars before all on my own and I can do it again. And if N.E.S.T thinks they are coming near a single penny after this they are on crack." She took a sip of her steaming drink.

"Uh. So it's okay if I take this chair, right?" The man asked, his hands on the back of the chair. She just looked at him, he sighed and dragged the chair a few inches when her hand shot out and grabbed it, her nails digging into it.

"The chair stays." She said, forcefully.

The man walked away carefully, looking over his shoulder at her.

She turned forward and watched a group of college kids come in the coffee shop door and then turned back to her laptop, shaking her head. "Well old friend." She said, turning the laptop on. "Time to make a withdraw."

And she began typing streams of codes at top speed.

* * *

_N.E.S.T headquarters, same time. _

"Any luck finding Barricade?" William Lennox asked Sam Witwitcky as Sam searched traffic cameras.

"Nothing yet." Sam replied, his eyes scanning the cameras. William sighed to himself as he walked to Seymour Simmons.

"You know, this would be a lot faster if we had help." Lennox said, leaning over Seymour's desk as a group of N.E.S.T workers hacked traffic cameras, searching for Barricade and Bianca's money.

"Look, Bianca needs time to cool off." Seymour explained, not looking up. "And honestly, so do I."

William's eyes fell on Seymour's tightly bandaged arm and he sat down next to him.

"So what happened at the house?" William asked, rubbing his three day stubble. "When you got shot." He added.

"I don't know." Seymour confessed, looking away from the screen and out at his fellows. "I got trapped and she grabbed a gun... and then... nothing. She went all deer in the headlights on me."

"Yeah. I guess Bianca isn't used to firing at people." William reasoned. "The only time she shot at someone was..." His eyes widened slightly and he looked up at Seymour, who met his gaze.

"Carla." Seymour finished.

"Yeah." William said.

"Damn it." Seymour cursed.

"Got him!" Sam shouted, William and Seymour looked at him. "This time the troll is the one going over the bridge." He said, showing them a picture of Barricade's car and a blonde woman inside.

"Yeah. That's her." Seymour said.

"Running it through facial recognition now." Sam said, "Informed Autobots." He added to himself.

"Veronica White." William read off the computer, "Currency dealer."

"All right!" Seymour called through the room, "We got the who, now let's zero in on the when and the where."

"You know this could've taken hours but it didn't because I checked the toll booth cameras first, I eliminated the automated booths and narrowed the time-frame knowing that Barricade drives like a little old lady." He stood up, "Why? Because _I am awesome!" _

Everyone in the room stared at him.

"What? Bianca always gets to brag."

* * *

"Bow down before Shadow Walker!" Bianca shouted, jumping out of her seat and pointing at the screen. People looked up and stared at her. Slowly she sat down as talk broke out again and said in a normal tone, "Rising from the ashes and about to become a millionaire for the second time."

Three police cars pulled up outside, unbeknownst to her.

She chuckled to herself as police threw open the shop door and one man shouted, "Stay where you are!" Her eyes widened as she saw police flood in, she didn't move as men held up there guns and searched laptop screens. "Do not move!" The police officer told her. "Put em' up where I can see them!" He said and she raised her hands slowly.

"They're up." She said.

"Put em' up hacker girl!"

"They're up." She repeated, her heart sinking.

"You're under arrest. Get up!" She felt herself being lifted from the chair and her hands cuffed behind her back, then she was lead out the shop and into a police cruiser.

* * *

"Veronica's company hired a truck. They're delivering a big shipment this afternoon." William informed Seymour as he walked in.

"No she's not." Sam said as they prepared.

"That's what I'm talking about." Seymour said.

"Now we know the money is going to the Decepticons. So we need to grab it en route before Megatron sends reinforcements." William told his team as they grabbed guns, blueprints and traffic maps.

"There's at least eight different roads we can take but we can't possibly stake them all out." Sam said, showing Seymour the map.

"Then we go after the truck leaving Veronica's building. When we know which road they're taking..."

"We can get ahead of it." William finished, loading a weapon. As the three loaded weapons for the trip Seymour's laptop beeped.

"Uh-oh." Sam said as he saw a mug shot fill his screen.

"What?" William asked.

"Suffolk county police department just ran Bianca's prints through the system."


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3:_

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers.

* * *

_Present. _

The Mercedes streaked along Highway 12, Barricade in pursuit. This part of the country was new to her, a dream of hers, to see the great canyons of the West. She would have preferred to see the sites at something under a hundred and thirty miles per hour.

They both caught the occasional glimpse of sprinting antelopes and the tawny flash of prairie dogs. High overhead, nearly lost in the sea of blue, a large hawk or maybe an eagle soared.

Before she could even scream the road disappeared.

Bianca slammed on the brakes and spun the wheel. The car stopped parallel to a guardrail with inches to spare.

What a panorama. Bianca knew from studying guidebooks that they gazed upon the grandeur of Fairyland View. A spectrum of browns. Tall, slim spires of sandstone that had been carved by raging waters. The image conjured in Bianca's mind was of a soldier kneeling before high-priests, about to accept his duty.

The car idled languidly, not even breathing hard, ready for more chase. And it wasn't denied, for a cloud of dust disgorged a large menace on the road we'd just come.

"There he is," Seymour shouted.

Bianca stepped on the accelerator and the car jumped forward, eager to perform. First, second, then third gear in rapid succession. They shot past hubby. Bianca gave a jaunty wave, then slammed into fourth gear.

Back on Highway 12, she headed deeper into Bryce Canyon.

The National Park's entrance station loomed ahead. _Thank God the gate is up._ The car flew through without bothering to slow. In the rear-view mirror she glimpsed a park ranger wearing an authentic Smoky the Bear hat. Man, she wished we could have stopped, she wanted a picture with him. He had stepped onto the road and was shaking his fist in the air, but leaped back into his booth as Barricade zipped by.

The car climbed rapidly. Their ears plugged so Bianca swallowed and they popped. Ahead, an irresistible sign beckoned. "Inspiration Point". No way she could pass it up, enraged Decepticon or not. She tapped the brake, then turned hard onto the narrow road. And unfortunately, Barricade stayed on us.

Ahead, she spotted a road to the left, one she'd missed the first time past. She took it.

Big mistake.

Two sharp lefts and they started a gradual descent on a straight road. Bianca pushed the car for all it had. On the right, open dessert ran together in a blur of sand and sage. On the left, scattered pine trees caused a strobe effect. Like an old-fashioned movie, the canyon flicked by a frame at a time. The smell of the pine sap reminded her of home, but the dry heat and relentless sun on her head banished the illusion.

Up ahead, decision time. A fork in the road. Bianca veered left, then braked hard, making a sharper left. What could she say, she's left-handed, always had that preference.

Even over the wind they heard the thumping of the box in the back seat.

The Decepticon squealed behind us. They jagged around some curves and approached another circular drive. She slowed and took in the view. Bryce Point. The sheer towers beckoned to us. Oh, to have the time to hike the trails into the bowels of this alien landscape. Except for the maniacal Decepticon behind us kicking up dust and making a general menace of himself, she could have imagined them on Mars. She longed to know what it was like to be at the base of the canyon looking up. She vowed she'd find out.

Seymour screamed.

She slammed on the brakes. The car skidded into a 180. They ended up facing away from Barricade, our rear bumper inches from his front. He'd had a bout of cleverness and had gone the other way around the circle, cutting off our retreat.

Bianca stared at the canyons ahead of them. The guardrail didn't appear that sturdy. They could do the Thelma and Louise thing. She imagined hurtling through the air, falling, rings of brown flashing before us. For a few seconds, they would be golden eagles descending upon a pika on the canyon floor.

Bianca turned to Seymour to suggest it, but then her mouth fell open as Optimus Prime slammed into Barricade's side, hurtling them to the edge.

"Go, go, go!" Seymour pushed Bianca out the car and they ran to a spot of safety.

There was the smell of acrid smoke and metal flying through the air as a GMC Topkick truck skidded next to them, the door opened and Bianca climbed into the passenger seat, her eyes streaming with sweat and dust, but she could still see Brawl get the money out the back.

"The money!" Bianca spluttered, "What-"

"Look, even if we manage to stop Brawl without blowing up the money, we won't be able to offload it before Megatron sends everything he has." Seymour explained.

"Damn it." Bianca said.

Seymour cursed under his breath, Ironhide's engine grumbled.

"Not if we destroy it." Bianca said, her voice low. "You're right, there's no time to grab the cash, so we burn it."

"_Did she just..."_ William was in awe over the comms.

"Burn it! Before I change my mind!" She ordered, Ironhide transformed, sending her any Seymour to the dirt.

"I wish I could see Megatron's face." Seymour wondered as Ironhide blasted Brawl over the edge, setting the money aflame.


End file.
